


Immolation

by Ketakoshka



Series: Dread Child Jon [5]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Desolation!Jon, I love Nikola but she's dead, M/M, Monster Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Revenge, Stalking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27037957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ketakoshka/pseuds/Ketakoshka
Summary: Revenge puts Tim right in Jon's path. Jon's inquisitive nature keeps it that way.
Relationships: Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist/Tim Stoker, past Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist/Danny Stoker
Series: Dread Child Jon [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884709
Comments: 11
Kudos: 189





	Immolation

**Author's Note:**

> Originally was going to be Tim and Jon as friends... and here we are.

He's used to haunting images plaguing him in the night. He's used to waking up heaving for breath and forgetting just for a moment where and when he is. But for once, it's not Danny who stares after him… calling for his brother... pleading for help.

No, it's a volatile pair of orange eyes.

* * *

Broken glass crunches underfoot as Timothy Stoker surveys the wreckage of a wax museum, still reeking of melting plastic and old construction. He'd seen her, the thing that was Joseph Grimaldi… that killed Danny when he'd come walking in the darkness after a

He saw her go in.

He Knew this was where she was hiding.

But he wasn't the one to torch this place to the ground with her inside.

No, he suspects that honor belongs to the inhuman thing sitting on a pile of rubble and watching him with interest glimmering in those orange eyes.

"Why?" he questions, staring up at the man's dark face, one clearly brown but nearly black in the darkness. He briefly wonders if it would feel like charred wood.

"Revenge," the man replies, speaking for the first time in Tim’s presence.

"For what?"

A brilliant white smile slices into his face as the stone underhand smolders further. "For a friend… a friend I barely knew but held dearly in my heart. I tried to enjoy the devastation of his loss in my life… but I could not." The sickly smile slowly slides away, and a look of strange melancholy overtakes his face. "You remind me of him."

There's suspicion in Tim's soul… but who knows how many people the circus has slaughtered. "What was his name?"

"Danny… Danny Stoker."

* * *

Jonathan Cyrus Perry, that's the name of the man that stole Tim's revenge with no remorse. It was hard to swallow, but he did so and thanked the dread child for avenging Danny. That was it, no need to see one another again.

Yet, Jonathan would show up on the streets and in cafés and outside bars with an amused smile that didn't quite hide the fascination in those orange eyes.

* * *

"Just fucking come in already."

Jonathan blinks rapidly, clearly caught off guard by Tim's earnest tone. "I… can come in?"

With a loud, annoyed sigh, he grips Jon's gloved hand and drags him in through the window. "It's going to rain, and I don't want to see you get sick."

"That's… sweet of you, but I literally can't."

"Whatever." Tim shuts the window and wanders off into the den, snagging his half-empty coffee as he passes the table. "You can stay as long as you don't set my plate on fire, alright?"

There's an emberous glow under Jon's cheeks. "I… thank you."

Tim only hums nonchalantly.

* * *

Tim decides to take a job at the Magnus Institute; he needs the money… But Jon seems almost perturbed by the idea.

But Tim is steadfast.

So Jon lets him with a promise to burn the institute to the ground if anything were to happen to him.

Tim wonders if Jon would despair or relish in the pain his death would bring.

* * *

  
  


It's pouring when Tim shuffles out of the institute with Martin and Sasha beside him. It'd been a long day, even before the ringside seats to the cop parade; no one's holding out hope that Gertrude Robinson is alive anyway. They were planning to get dinner together before that shitshow, but it's 21:00 already…

Tim just wants to get home.

The moment he steps through the door, he finds Jon waiting on the stone bench brought specifically to give him something 'safe' to sit on.

"I was worried," he explains, "you were going to be home by nine, right?"

Tim sighs loudly. "Ya know how Robinson went missing?"

"Yes."

"Cops."

Jon makes an understanding noise and opens his arms for a hug. "You're soaked… let me dry you off."

* * *

The kiss is warm… warmer than normal but not painful in the slightest. Still, he feels like he's burning… immolated by the strange regard he feels for Jon.

He knows this is dangerous; Jon's dangerous.

Tim moves in for another kiss, attempting to memorize the strange texture of Jon's face under his fingertips. It's softer than he'd expected, not like charred wood or burnt flesh, but there’s the tiniest indents where the marks are darkest…

He's beautiful…

It's hard to remember that this was Danny's friend, that this was Danny's  _ boyfriend _ . He can't do this… He can’t fall in lo–

He bites his lip as he pulls back to keep the words down… They're scorching his throat… but it would be weird… it would ruin everything… it would–

"I think I love you," Jon whispers, and Tim… feels so happy to burn.


End file.
